This is a list of all cricketers who have captained Ireland in an official international match. This includes the ICC Trophy, Under-19 games and One Day Internationals, Twenty20 Internationals. The tables are correct as of the February 2012.
Men's cricket
Test match captains
This is a list of cricketers who have captained the Ireland cricket team for at least one Test match.
A cricketer who has a symbol of next to a Test match series describes their role as captain and their participation in at least one game for the team.
| Number | Name | Picture | Year | Report | Opposition | Location | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Porterfield | 2018 | Report | Pakistan | Ireland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2018–19 | Report | Afghanistan | India | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2019 | Report | England | England | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||||||
| 2 | Andrew Balbirnie | 2022–23 | Report | Bangladesh | Bangladesh | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2023 | Report | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2023 | Report | England | England | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | Report | Afghanistan | UAE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2024 | Report | Zimbabwe | Ireland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2024–25 | Report | Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2025–26 | Report | Bangladesh | Bangladesh | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | ||||||
| Grand total[2] | 12 | 3 | 9 | 0 | ||||||
One Day International captains
In 2006, all-rounder Trent Johnston became Ireland's first ODI captain.[3] He stepped down as captain in early 2008 and took a break from cricket as he was struggling with injury problems.[4] William Porterfield succeeded Johnston as Ireland's full-time captain in April 2008.[5] On occasions when Porterfield had been unavailable, sometimes due to commitments with his county side, Kyle McCallan had filled the role of captain.[6] Andrew Balbirnie stood down from the White Ball cricket captain, continuing as Ireland's Test Captain,[7] and Paul Stirling[8] was named captain on 31st October 2023. The table of results is complete up to the West Indies tour in 2025.
| Number | Name | Period of captaincy | Played | Won | Tied | Lost | No result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trent Johnston | 2006–2010 | 32 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 2 |
| 2 | Kyle McCallan | 2007–2008 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 3 | William Porterfield | 2008-2019 | 113 | 50 | 2 | 55 | 6 |
| 4 | Kevin O'Brien | 2010–2014 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | Andrew Balbirnie | 2020–2023 | 37 | 8 | 0 | 25 | 4 |
| 6 | Paul Stirling | 2022–2025 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 4 |
| Grand total[10] | 210 | 83 | 3 | 108 | 16 | ||
Twenty20 International captains
This is a list of cricketers who have captained the Ireland cricket team for at least one Twenty20 International. Paul Stirling captained Ireland in 2019 before taking over the role full time in 2023. Stats below include his 2019 stats[8] The table of results is complete up to the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup.
| No. | Name | Period | Played | Won | Tied | Lost | No Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Porterfield | 2005–2007 | 56 | 26 | 0 | 26 | 4 |
| 2 | Kevin O'Brien | 2015 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Gary Wilson | 2016–2019 | 26 | 12 | 1 | 13 | 0 |
| 4 | Paul Stirling | 2019–2026 | 48 | 20 | 0 | 26 | 2 |
| 5 | Andrew Balbirnie | 2020–2023 | 52 | 19 | 1 | 31 | 1 |
| 6 | Lorcan Tucker | 2024–2026 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Grand total[12] | 188 | 78 | 2 | 99 | 9 | ||
Captains in Men's ICC tournaments
Women's cricket
Women's Test match captains
Ireland had played one Test in 2000 against Pakistan at Dublin.
| Number | Name | Year | Opposition | Location | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miriam Grealey | 2000 | Pakistan | Ireland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Women's One Day International captains
| Number | Name | Period of captaincy | Played | Won | Tied | Lost | No result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mary-Pat Moore | 1987–1993 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| 2 | Sonia Reamsbottom | 1988 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Elizabeth Owens | 1989–1990 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 4 | Miriam Grealey | 1995–2000 | 33 | 11 | 0 | 21 | 1 |
| 5 | Nikki Squire | 2001 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 6 | Anne Linehan | 2002 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 7 | Clare Shillington | 2003–2011 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| 8 | Heather Whelan | 2003–2011 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | Isobel Joyce | 2008–2014 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| 10 | Ciara Metcalfe | 2010–2011 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 11 | Mary Waldron | 2013–2017 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 12 | Laura Delany | 2016–2024 | 39 | 11 | 1 | 25 | 2 |
| 13 | Gaby Lewis | 2022–2025 | 23 | 6 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| 14 | Orla Prendergast | 2024 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Grand total | 195 | 56 | 1 | 131 | 7 | ||
Women's Twenty20 International captains
| Number | Name | Period of captaincy | Played | Won | Tied | Lost | No result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isobel Joyce | 2008–2016 | 31 | 5 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| 2 | Heather Whelan | 2009 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | Ciara Metcalfe | 2010–2011 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | Cecelia Joyce | 2012 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | Clare Shillington | 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | Laura Delany | 2016–2024 | 77 | 42 | 0 | 34 | 1 |
| 7 | Kim Garth | 2019 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 8 | Gaby Lewis | 2022–2026 | 28 | 20 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | Arlene Kelly | 2025 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grand total | 149 | 71 | 0 | 77 | 1 | ||
Youth cricket
Youth One-Day International captains
| Ireland T20I Captains | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | Year | Played | Won | Tied | Lost | NR | |
| 1 | Joseph Clinton | 1998 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2 | Ed Joyce | 1998 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 3 | Peter Shields | 1998 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
| 4 | William Porterfield | 2004 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 5 | Eoin Morgan | 2006 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 6 | Greg Thompson | 2008 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 7 | Andrew Balbirnie | 2010 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 8 | George Dockrell | 2012 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| Overall | 43 | 14 | 1 | 28 | 0 | |||
Notes
- Percentage is worked out by counting tied games as half a win and excluding no results from the equation.
References
- ^ "List of Ireland Test cricket captains". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
- ^ "Test Matches/ Team Records/ Result Summary". Cricinfo
- ^ Cricinfo staff (7 June 2006), "Ireland announce squad for England match", Cricinfo.com Retrieved on 3 November 2008.
- ^ "Johnston takes a break from cricket", Cricinfo staff, 22 March 2008 Retrieved on 3 November 2008.
- ^ "Porterfield takes charge", BBC Online, 23 April 2008 Retrieved on 30 May 2008.
- ^ Cricket Ireland (22 May 2008), "Ireland hit by Porterfield withdrawal", Cricketeurope4.net, archived from the original on 19 March 2009, retrieved 8 December 2008 Retrieved on 30 May 2008.
- ^ "Balbirnie steps down as Ireland ODI and T20I captain". ESPNcricinfo. Archived 2024-08-15 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ^ "Paul Stirling appointed Ireland white-ball captain". ESPNcricinfo. Archived 2024-10-06 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ^ "List of Ireland ODI cricket captains". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
- ^ "Records / One-Day Internationals / Team Records / Result Summary", Cricinfo, retrieved 2018-12-15
- ^ "Ireland T20I Captains". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
- ^ "Records/ Twenty20 International/ Results Summary". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ^ "Irish Women – Women's Test matches". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
- ^ "List of Captains for Ireland Women in WODIs". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
- ^ "List of Captains for Ireland Women in WT20Is". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
External links
- Cricinfo
- Ireland's ICC Trophy captains at Cricket Archive Archived 2012-10-15 at the Wayback Machine
- Ireland's Under-19's captains at Cricket Archive Archived 2013-11-09 at the Wayback Machine